Tag Archives: twitter

I’ve been outraged more times than I can count since this all started. The first video of this woman being dragged like a carcass out of that elevator. Not one but TWO men standing over her, neither with the slightest care about her well-being. The sham press conference with the victim essentially taking responsibility for the crime against her. You know the rest.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Let’s get something straight. Don’t show the knockout video. Every single organization that’s still showing it is part of the domestic violence problem. Every time that’s shown, that woman is victimized again and again. Just have some guts and STOP.

Now, one of the gifts of working in television is the ability to take on an issue and make a difference. A team of co-workers from WRAL and FOX 50 gathered around a table to brainstorm a plan to do something with the power of our television stations. Within a few hours those ideas grew into a multi-media campaign across Capitol Broadcasting Company‘s television and radio stations, websites and even our minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls. Less than 24 hours later we had a plan to launch a campaign in the Steelers/Ravens game, on the premiere of Thursday Night Football on CBS.

Yes, we gave up thousands of dollars in ad inventory to run a PSA, two actually. A :60 in pre-game and this :90 in halftime:

Ironically, two account executives from WRAL and FOX 50 have been working on a domestic violence initiative for more than a year, bringing together a coalition of agencies working on this issue. Ray Rice gave us the opportunity to get people to listen.

The NFL game, which featured the Ravens (Ray Rice’s former team) and the Steelers, reached 147,866 households in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville NC market, averaging a 12.7 rating, 21 share.

9/11 and through 10am on 9/12 generated a total of 683 sessions to the eNOughNC.org website, 14 times the traffic of the the previous days. And, 90% of those sessions were new visitors.

On Twitter, the top 5 trending topics in Raleigh were ALL involved with eNOugh, domestic violence, and the messages we aired on television. And it all happened within about three hours.

We had national social media participation including Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts and Ohio.

Results from :60 and :90 PSAs

Incredible social engagement.

This is the magic of twitter.

The dominant conversation in our market.

Three of the top five trending topics locally for four hours.

It took less than 24 hours to plan and execute this on air initiative across Capitol Broadcasting. Thursday, 9/18, we will host a phone bank in our studios staffed with knowledgeable experts to help people in crisis. We hope what we’re starting is a movement of outrage so loud, people can no longer turn away. That domestic and sexual violence can no longer be ignored.

What can you do?

If you’re in it, please reach out and let your community help you. The statewide North Carolina resource is enoughnc.org.

The national domestic violence hotline number is 1-800-799-SAFE.

If you see it or suspect it, please report it to local police.

Next, who’s ready to take on violence against women on television and in the movies? Sign me up.

This isn’t Minnesota. A few inches of snow in North Carolina quickly gets named Snowmageddon on twitter and warrants wall-to-wall television coverage. Here’s how we do it at WRAL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh.

From the moment of the four letter forecast, it’s all hands on deck. Managers mobilize their departments to both do their jobs and support the news department in getting / covering the story.

Every single person in the television station “unofficially transfers” to the News department. Accountants become snow desk volunteers. Sales execs become shuttle drivers getting crews to and from nearby hotels. Every person with a camera of any kind becomes a photographer. Department heads and staffers from other divisions in our parent company Capitol Broadcasting work the 24/7 social media response team. Our goal is personal service. Be helpful. Be a resource. Be a lifeline in every possible way.

We look for every technology available to get stories, pictures and videos to air. We used Skype to get a liveshot on with Jackie Hyland, one of our main news anchors, who was stuck in her car for nearly four hours.

WRAL News anchor Jackie Hylands details her 4 hour traffic nightmare on the way to work.

Especially on days like today, you need to be able to broadcast live from anywhere. Drive5, is our new mobile dashcam fleet (with its own twitter account) that allows us to broadcast live from absolutely anywhere. One of the most incredible video feeds came from a dashcam mounted in a news car traveling along Glenwood Avenue, a main thoroughfare in the city that was absolutely crippled by abandoned cars.

We used a new ipad app @TVInteract to move live tweets with pics to air without having to add graphic support.

The WRAL.com tech team in Raleigh keeps the site humming. They’ve built an incredible backend so the servers don’t even breathe hard, easily handling web traffic at more than a million page views an hour. Web editors are scheduled around the clock, each assigned to a reporter/photographer team to move content quickly to the web, mobile apps and social media. Other editors are assigned specific tasks like moving viewer submitted pictures from various platforms to web and TV and publishing multiple live streams.

The Video Central section on the top of the homepage at WRAL.com lists multiple live streams throughout the day and night.

The station website recently relaunched a responsive design that changes the layout of the site as the story gets bigger. Any site format change on the main site gets automatically mirrored on the mobile apps. If you haven’t seen responsive design yet, check it out!

Design changes to accommodate huge stories like a snowstorm

In the promotion department, we follow the tone of the story as it unfolds. Some snow storms are lighthearted and some, like this one, are more serious. Our plan completely changed as the story changed into dangerous gridlock. We start capturing sound from air in the early morning hours. We produce quick spots that deliver on our core mission to serve. We focus on what makes WRAL coverage unique.

Over and over, every time in a crisis, North Carolina proves it has heart. Neighbors help neighbors. Good Samaritans outnumber the complainers. The kindness in people emerges and our community makes me very proud to be a native.

Broadcasting live 32.5 hours of 36 requires an army of WRAL staffers, steaming on WRAL.com and multiple mobile apps, simulcasting on sister radio station MIX 101.5 WRAL-FM, and sister TV station WILM, posting information and responding to questions on facebook and twitter 24/7…That’s how WRAL does it.

So here’s to you, North Carolina, for taking it on the chin like a champ. WRAL is here to help you #StaySafe.